Peel Godred Aluminum Company
The Peel Godred Aluminum Company (simply known as the Sodor Aluminium Company) is a company that owns the Sodor Aluminium Works, which is located a mile north of Peel Godred. History In 1923 the Peel Godred Power Company, a subsidiary of the British Aluminium Company, was formed to build a dam and hydro-electric power station utilising the waters of the three lakes, Corloey, Dubbyn Moar and Loey Machan. A standard gauge railway was needed to transport their bulky equipment, so the company negotiated with the North Western Railway to build a branch line from Killdane to Peel Godred, for which the company paid half the costs and supplies the current for its fleet of electric locomotives. The Power Company initially considered using the Mid Sodor Railway, and while port facilities at Arlesburgh were adequate, the slim clearances on the Mountain Road proved an insuperable obstacle. Three years later, in 1926, the Sodor Aluminium Company was formed to own and operate the Power Company, and also the Aluminium Works that was being built at Peel Godred. Beyond the town station and goods yard, the line continues for a mile or so before fanning out into the sidings at the Aluminium Works. Alumina is brought from Tidmouth to here, where it is processed into ingots before being sent to the Mainland via Barrow-in-Furness. In 1947 the Company bought Falcon, Stuart, and Jim from the closed Mid Sodor Railway to assist in an expansion project at the Aluminium Works. This was completed in 1951, and Stuart and Falcon, after standing sheeted under tarpaulins for the better part of a year, were sold in 1952 to Sir Handel Lloyd Brown for the Skarloey Railway at the knockdown price of £25 each. So they kept Jim as he was apparently the most well-behaved. Though Jim did miss the long runs from Arlesbourgh to the mountains, he was busy most of the time, so he didn't mind, until the Aluminium Works began to decline. There were many reasons: One, economic reasons, as the company wasn't good at managing their money. They bought the new machinery and equipment and expanded too fast, bringing them into a lot of debt. It got worse when the Aluminium supplies declined in the mid-60s. Jim's line of trucks decreased from seven to three. Workers found much more in the current site today by the Peel Godred line. Being in such a terrible financial state, they couldn't afford to just simply move the industry; Second, and perhaps the biggest one was a poor safety record, which was why it was difficult to get funding. No one was killed, but the line had many accidents ranging from improper uses of machinery to incidents with dynamite. At this time, Jim himself started to deteriorate, as he was old and in desperate need of an overhaul. However, the manager was unable to afford it. The quarry then fell into a terrible state. The aluminium had all been dug up. The railway board decided to build another Aluminium works, right on the Peel Godred line. In 1966-1967, the quarry is officially closed. To avoid being scrapped, Jim was put in an old military bunker, so if anyone would decide to buy Jim, they could just pull him out.Category:Locations